Brave Old World
I have to admit I was slightly surprised at the number of Democrats who woke up yesterday insisting January 6, 2021, in which one person was shot and killed storming the United States Capitol and several police officers were viciously assaulted, some of whom subsequently died of heart attacks or other issues, was somehow a worse day in American history than September 11, 2001, in which 19 terrorists killed 2,977 Americans. But it happened.
It is a measure of political brokenness, I think, to think January 6, 2021, was a worse day in history for Americans than September 11, 2001. Politically, okay, sure, I understand your point. But as an act of “terrorism?” Really?
Donald Trump, bull in the china shop, broke many things, including the brains of many of his opponents. His chief skill was making others become and behave exactly as they claim he is.
You should see this exchange between Chuck Todd and Kamala Harris for more.
The Democrats are intent on making January 6, 2021, the theme of their midterm election. Concurrently, they continue to fund Republican campaigns of candidates who think the election was stolen and January 6 was no big deal. It is political cynicism designed to rile up the Democrats’ base and is politically opportunistic. If January 6 is worse than September 11, it’d be like funding Al Qaeda while claiming they’re so dangerous they must be stopped.
Concurrently, on the other side of the aisle, there is a large contingent of people defining themselves as exactly opposite the Democrats. This is the most remarkable and unremarked part of American politics today.
Too many people on both sides of the aisle are defining themselves not by their core convictions but instead setting the convictions to be exactly the opposite of what the other side is advocating for.
Joe Biden could annihilate a significant portion of his opposition today if he came out and declared that breathing and oxygen are good. A good portion of the new right would hold their breath and die out of the firm conviction that if Joe Biden is for it, they must absolutely, positively be against it.
Which brings me to Ukraine.
I understand and share the concerns of those who think Congress needs to step in and actually appropriate money for Ukraine instead of the President just throwing money at them.
I cannot understand those who are absolutely insistent we should let the Russians have their way with the place.
Many of the same people who think we should not be involved with the Ukrainians are equally upset the Obama Administration scrapped our two-front war doctrine. Prior to Obama, it was the policy objective of the United States that we should be able to fight and win two wars on two fronts concurrently. Obama scaled that back to hold ground on one front while we win on the other.
If you haven't been paying attention, the Russians and Chinese are slowly building up their own axis of evil. The Russians are not our friends but our rivals. The Russians will not stop at Ukraine but will use it as a launching pad for pushing further into Europe.
We don’t have to fight Russia so long as we help the Ukrainians fight Russia and test the weapons systems we designed in theory to beat Russia. So far, the designs are holding up. It is a very good thing to help Ukraine, despite the country’s faults.
Many of the people most vocally opposed are nothing more than professional contrarians who would be cheering on the effort if a Republican President were helping Ukraine.
We should not let Biden’s leadership deter us from wanting to stop the Russians. At no point in modern history have the Russians really been our partners and friends outside of a few years post cold war. It is a willing nieveité on the part of the vocal opposition to be opposed. If we do not deal with Russia against Ukraine, eventually, the American Republic will be called upon to see if it will keep its word to its allies. Many of those who oppose helping Ukraine are more and more hinting they don’t think we have any obligation to allies so long as they are not in charge.
That’s not really American or America first. It’s broken promises, failed commitments, and a return to a world where other nations seek to lead. We should want no other nation in first place.
I believe you misunderstand many of us who are not all in on aiding Ukraine. Since this country is literally falling apart, I think we maybe should focus on it first. By the time our government is done "aiding Ukraine" we will have nothing left for our military, which is being decimated by wokeness anyhow, we will have no oil reserves and already have been invaded by the multitudes pouring across the border. So, yes, we want our country straightened up first. It isn't going to matter one dang bit if we help save them if we go down in flames in the process. And we are.
I note amongst many of those who oppose helping Ukraine a desire to impose a sort of purity test. The argument goes because Ukraine's government is corrupt, we should not help Ukraine. It's simple: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And Putin's Russia is our enemy. It should be the policy, stated or otherwise, to weaken Russia as much as possible, ideally to the point Putin is overthrown. Fortunately, Russia's war has unmasked just how incompetent Russia's military is, a humiliating realization for Russia's Generals I'm sure, and one which might motivate some to move to remove Putin, but that's just a wish right now. At the least the incompetence Russia's military has shown since the start of the war, especially of late where the Ukrainians seem to be routing them with ease should offer some comfort to those former satellite countries Putin would see returned to Moscow's orbit; Russia is not the threat they had thought.
Putin would like to see Russia as a Great Power. He suffers under the illusion Russia was a Great Power in the past. It was not, and with an economy the size of Texas will never attain such status.